Government Protects Us From Evil Cupcake Salesmen

Zack is the former executive producer of Heartland Media and the editor of Somewhat Reasonable, the blog of the Heartland Institute. Previously, Zack spent 2 1/2 years as the executive producer of the long-running public affairs program Extension 720 with Milt Rosenberg.

Thank God for Big Government. What would we do without someone to keep us from eating Happy Meals, protect us from lemonade stands, and stop us from getting an unregulated shoe shine? It seems stories like this crop up with disturbing regularity–the heavy hand of government comes crashing down to stifle commerce or squash the dreams of a budding entrepreneur. The latest such case comes from New York, where a city councilman called the police on two 13-year-olds for selling baked goods in a park:

“I am shocked and sad for the boys. It was such a great idea, and they worked hard at it,” Laura Graff, Kevin’s mother, told The Journal News. “But then some Town Board member decided to get on his high horse and wreck their dreams.”

DeMarchis, Graff and two other friends, Zachary Bass and Daniel Katz, had hoped they would make enough money to open a restaurant, the paper said, adding that they made $120 on their first day.

The last line of the story is heartbreaking:

“We were being entrepreneurs,” he said, “but now I feel a little defeated.”

Government Protects Us From Evil Cupcake Salesmen was last modified: November 16th, 2010 by Zack Christenson